Posts Tagged latina

As soon as I finished the last page of A Cup of Water Under My Bed, I pulled out my phone and searched the words “card reader” into Yelp. Then I tried “mãe de santa,” then “candomblé” then “santería,” but none of the terms really summed up the kind of guidance I had brushed up against through my mother, my cousins, my aunts. In her book, Daisy Hernandez reminds us that often, we do not know how to name or thank the women who shape our journey. The women her parents sought out for spiritual support were referred to as simply “las mujeres que saben,” in her house, the “women who know.”

I eventually found a woman named Yolanda ...

As soon as I finished the last page of A Cup of Water Under My Bed, I pulled out my phone and searched the words “card reader” into Yelp. Then I tried “mãe de ...

Earlier this year, XOJane published a piece by a white woman who attended the same yoga class as a fat black woman. The piece centered on how worried she was for the poor black woman, who–she assumed–must have felt horribly uncomfortable and unskilled as she attempted to perform the poses the yoga instructor described. It was a patronizing and racist, and an unfortunate reminder that yoga studios are often set up to serve very thin, white, wealthy, and heteronormative people. Sesali wrote about the piece, noting that “being fat in spaces that are created to bring attention to the body can seem like breeding grounds for microaggressions and hurt feelings.”

Now imagine a ...

Earlier this year, XOJane published a piece by a white woman who attended the same yoga class as a fat black woman. The piece centered on how worried she was for the poor black woman, ...

Happy Women’s History Month! Today I’d like to share with you the story of one woman who was challenging norms around race, gender, and class before it got cool.

Juana Briones was one of the first woman pioneers here on the Best West Coast of the United States. She lived throughout the Bay Area and her experiences as a woman of color living in California speak deeply to many of the movements for change happening today. Hers is a history that needs to be taught in schools and to our politicians. Maybe then Arizona would not be able to ban Mexican-American Studies, or Texas would support Mexican-American Studies as an option for schools. Maybe then, our politicians would understand what immigrants mean ...

Happy Women’s History Month! Today I’d like to share with you the story of one woman who was challenging norms around race, gender, and class before it got cool.

I am writing with regards to this past week’s SNL skit “Jewelry Party,” in which Lena Dunham and Cecily Strong explained on national television what a Men’s Rights Activist is in a pathetic attempt to commemorate International Women’s Day and hop on that trendy feminist wagon.

Here in the feminist blogosphere we have a saying, coined by Flavia Dzodan, that goes like this: “My feminism will be intersectional or it will be bullshit.” Here’s a version you might understand: My feminism will at the absolute minimum not be blatantly racist or it will be bullshit. And sir, your “feminism” is bullshit.

To Lorne Michaels,

I am writing with regards to this past week’s SNL skit “Jewelry Party,” in which Lena Dunham and Cecily Strong explained on national television what a Men’s Rights Activist is in a pathetic ...

Last year, we saw a huge push nationwide to get comprehensive immigration reform passed. After months of speeches from Obama, rally after rally, blog post after blog post, the bill got as far as the Senate, and then…

Tuesday of this week marked the 20th anniversary of the Zapatista uprising in San Cristobal de las Casas, Mexico, a short moment with a long legacy of struggle for indigenous rights. The Zapatistas–also known as the Zapatista Army of National Liberation or the EZLN–are a movement of indigenous people fighting against the effects of neoliberalism, particularly the privatization of land and other natural resources.

Today, we’re excited to feature an interview with Kim Haas, director of the blog Los Afro Latinos, which is dedicated to celebrating the culture and work of Afro-descendents throughout the Americas. Haas was kind enough to answer some of my questions about her mission.

Late last month, voters in Albuquerque New Mexico voted down a municipal ballot measure that would have banned late-term abortions without exception (including incest, fetal abnormalities, rape or threat to the woman’s health). Voter turnout on that day was impressively high for a special election in which parts of the city were voting on nothing but this ballot measure. This is all thanks to the tireless organizing of Respect ABQ, a campaign made up largely of organizations by and for women of color, particularly Latin@s, who make up almost half of the city’s population.

Late last month, voters in Albuquerque New Mexico voted down a municipal ballot measure that would have banned late-term abortions without exception (including incest, fetal abnormalities, rape or threat to the woman’s health). Voter turnout on that ...